"The necessity of prayer shows to us our unworthiness, which is a salutary lesson for such proud beings as we are. If God gave us favours without constraining us to pray for them we should never know how poor we are, but a true prayer is an inventory of needs, a revelation of poverty. While it is an application to divine wealth, it is a confession of human emptiness."
"Bow down Thine ear, O Lord, hear me:
For I am poor and needy.” Psalm 86:1
(C. H. Spurgeon)
A reply: Such well observed truth! Conversely, the lack of prayer is a statement of presumption, self sufficiency, and prideful self reliance. Prayer is the weakness and foolishness of God to ordain such a humble means of grace to such great and glorious ends, as He turns our "groanings which cannot be uttered" into clearest speech tenderly regarded by an almighty Father's ear.